Implementation

What distinguishes today's resolution from others is that it represents a pivot away from a narrow focus on women as victims and towards the more positive and liberating agenda of women's participation and women's leadership. Welcome attention is paid to the active role that women and women's groups can play in transforming conflict, insecurity and fragility. That aspect has been insufficiently highlighted.

We warmly welcome today's landmark resolution of the Security Council (resolution 2122 (2013), a resolution that can fairly be described as representing the high water mark so far in terms of advancing the agenda relating to women and peace and security.

Ireland is a founding member of the ACT (accountability, coherence and transparency) group, which is pressing for the Security Council to be more accountable, more coherent and more transparent in its working methods. I assume that the enhanced focus on women and peace and security in today's resolution will mean improvements in both the quantity and quality of briefing that will be provided to the Council on those issues.

Fortunately, as the report of the Secretary- General of 4 September (S/2013/525) acknowledges, times of transition and flux can present opportunities to strengthen women's leadership, empowerment and rights in the process of restoring the rule of law and governance systems. As his report indicates, the participation of women in peace negotiations and donor conferences has increased over the past year.

As stated in the Secretary-General's report on women's participation in peacebuilding (S/2010/466), it is essential to improve the approach of the United Nations in combating sexual and gender-based violence, particularly through the training for United Nations peacekeepers.

We have taken note of the indicators proposed in the Secretary-General's report. Indicators can be useful in assessing situations as countries move from situations of armed conflict to conflict resolution and from peacebuilding to post-conflict reconstruction. We must recognize, however, the difficulties in obtaining credible and verifiable information from armed conflict zones.

The general recommendation in the report of the Secretary-General to incorporate into that agenda other thematic areas — such as countering terrorism, transnational organized crime, natural resources and others — not only has implications for the division of work and responsibilities between the Security Council and the General Assembly, but also has the potential to dilute significant United Nations work being done in the area of

India is one of the leading contributors to United Nations peacekeeping operations. Based on our broad experience, we believe that the Security Council must make resources available to implement the greater scope of peacekeeping mandates, including by providing more women protection advisers. India was the first State to successfully deploy an all-women police force as part of United Nations peacekeeping operations.

We have taken note of the indicators proposed in the Secretary-General's report. Indicators can be useful in assessing situations as countries move from situations of armed conflict to conflict resolution and from peacebuilding to post-conflict reconstruction. We must recognize, however, the difficulties in obtaining credible and verifiable information from armed conflict zones.

The resolution of armed conflict situations requires a holistic and sustainable approach. The participation of women in peace processes and post- conflict reconstruction efforts is necessary to lay the foundation for lasting peace. In that regard, resolution 1325 (2000) and successive Council resolutions on this issue have provided a framework for effective institutional arrangements.